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9 hour stretch!

I have been nursing/pumping since my son was a newborn. Because of complications, he needed to be in the ICU for a few days so I was not able to nurse him right away. He was born on October 16, 2005 making him almost 6 months. They gave him formula and ever since then, he has been on a half formula/half breastmilk mixture. I was not a fan of breastfeeding in the beginning but now find I do enjoy it. I currently only nurse him in the early morning and night and pump the rest of the time. I do work fulltime (thankfully, they have a lactation room) and pump 3 times a day at work. So, I’ll nurse him around 4:30-5am, try to pump at 6:30, pump approx. at 10, 1, and 4 at work, nurse/pump when I get home, and pump before I go to bed. He is content and growing fine on the mixture mentioned above.

Two evenings ago, I nursed him at 7:15pm. I then fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 4:15am. (He sleeps from 7:30-4:30 or 5) I had meant to pump at 11pm so I went 9 hours without doing anything. I was engorged, relieved about ¾ of it, and then nursed him at 5:15am and then pumped at 6:30am. I then followed my regular pumping schedule again. Since then, it seems as if my supply went down a little bit. My left breast has always produced more than the right but now I’m afraid the right one could dry up.

I guess my question is – because of that 9 hour stretch, could that have affected things permanently? I have been pumping/nursing regularly, drinking water, taking fenugreek, etc. I average about an ounce an hour so if I pump every 3 hours, I’m happy with 3 ounces. Before, I would get 3-5 but I’ve been having to squeeze every drop out to get 3. Also, can milk naturally dry up on its own even with regular pumping/nursing?

I would like to continue nursing/pumping for the first year.

At work, I use the original Pump In Style and at home, I have the Medela Lactina.

Re: 9 hour stretch!

I am by no means an expert, but I would not think that the nine hour stretch would adversly affect your supply permanently especially if you make a point of sneaking in an extra feeding or pumping session. Supply meets demand. If you tell your body that you need more milk (by pumping and nursing) then your body will adjust it's supply accordingly. That's why when our babies have growth spurts they want to nurse every 1/2 hour-- they're naturally regulating the supply and our bodies start making more milk.

You already know about drinking lots of water and taking fenugreek so that's really good. There's also a tea called Mothers Milk tea that I really like as well.

And to my knowledge it is very rare for a woman's milk supply to dry up with no warning. It's a scary thought though... but honestly the stress from worrying about it is more likely to dry you up than having it dry up by itself. I hope this helps.

Re: 9 hour stretch!

I had a NICU baby too, ds was in for 5 weeks and we couldn't nurse until 3 months due to intestional problems and severe reflux. So I had to pump around the clock. But was able to successfully exclusively bf for 3-6 months and then had to supplement with formula. I noticed that if I missed a pumping session then the next few days when I pumped at the time of the missed session I would have less milk. But it was never a permanent thing and after about 3 days of not missing the pumping session my supply would be back up. I only had to start supplementing with formula @ 6 months because I went back to work and could not pump at work. Even with going 9 hours every night (worked @ night) without pumping I was still able to bf parttime until 9 months when I got preg with dd and supply completely dried up.